Have you ever given pro tools a fair chance for a midi production?

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Hi,

I have to use pro tools with school it isnt a program I think I would of ever started using. I actually really like it. In school they are having us layer a bunch of audio files in pt to make sounds for video games and stuff and I know pro tools is strong in the audio editing but I really enjoy it. We started venturing into the midi of pro tools, and I have to say, it seems to have all the basics that most of us need.. the organization of pro tools is amazing.. so why does no one use it really for midi work? the plugin format? what?

Have you used pro tools for a midi project? What is your pro tools use for music production?
• Logic Pro 10.8.1
• MacBook Pro 2023 - M2 MAX - 96 GB RAM
• Focusrite Red 8Line + UAD Satellite

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Pro Tools gets a bad rap for MIDI, but to be honest, that's due to past versions when it was by all accounts quite poor for MIDI production. These days, it actually does MIDI quite well for most of the common functions. And ever since PT 11, it handles virtual instruments phenomenally.

You can see a MIDI editing comparison to other DAWs here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8UfGIfuDaA

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:borg:
Last edited by ontol on Sun Jul 10, 2016 6:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Thanks for the replies. Yeah I don't know why I feel like a lot of people don't like the PT workflow for pop/edm but I'm digging it. I have been having issues with organization in projects in other DAWs and I feel like PT is just a very clean and simple interface that doesn't get in the way of organization.
• Logic Pro 10.8.1
• MacBook Pro 2023 - M2 MAX - 96 GB RAM
• Focusrite Red 8Line + UAD Satellite

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My last experience was with LE8, and to be fair, it was LE, and tbh, it probably didn't like my machine (that other daws worked flawlessly on)...for the sake of fairness :)
Performance for virtual instruments was roughly 1/5 the track counts of reaper, or 1/2 those of samp 9. Same instruments, patches, midi sequence, etc.
In terms of midi, i seem to recall some quirks with editing when multiple tracks were displayed (the edit wouldn't stick unless it was played back?), but no deal killers. There were things i liked, and things i didn't care for...par for the course.
Aside from performance, mostly what put me off was that in some ways, it was sort of like a flashback to '99-era cubase vst3.x...no delay compensation, offline bounce, etc etc etc...that really slowed things down quite a bit for me.
The later versions (particularly 11) did get my attention, after going native, and apparently optimizing, but...ilok (which i could've perhaps overlooked), and then subscription finally killed it dead for me as an option.
Feed the children! Preferably to starving wild animals.
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Pooter | Software | Akai MPK-61 | Line 6 Helix | Dynaudio BM5A mk II

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While it's not my go-to DAW for MIDI, PT11 (the version I'm currently on) is more than adequate for pretty much any MIDI-based production, including EDM. It certainly doesn't have all of the specialty MIDI tools/bells and whistles that you get in most of the other major DAWs, but if a person can't complete a MIDI-centric project in PT9 or newer, the problem isn't with PT.
Logic Pro | PolyBrute | MatrixBrute | MiniFreak | Prophet 6 | Trigon 6 | OB-6 | Rev2 | Pro 3 | SE-1X | Polar TI2 | Blofeld | RYTMmk2 | Digitone | Syntakt | Digitakt | SX7

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def not in love with the subscription idea as well over here. I actually did a CPU test and pro tools actually got a higher track count than logic on my computer with 4 bar 7th chords made by serum, EQ, and compressor. Which amazed me... however, logic currently has track freeze so its kinda a null point.. pro tools is supposed to get track freeze any day now according to the avid website but apparently they have been saying that for a year.

Honestly, I am loving pro tools 12 for music production. It takes a lot more learning than other DAWs in my opinion. However, as soon as you learn how to do it the pro tools way I say, why doesn't every DAW do it like this. It is worth a shot to use if anybody has thought about it.

For me, I dont use all those crazy midi features that most other DAWs have. Literally just use the basics.I just need a piano roll and automation. I also looked up and two artists I look up to use pro tools as their DAW of choice Morgan Page and Kaskade. Both use ableton on the side especially on the road. (both have studios with a lot of hardware tho to make pro tools a little bit more worth it)

I play guitar (badly lol) and use a lot of hardware synths so that may be also influencing my love of pro tools.
• Logic Pro 10.8.1
• MacBook Pro 2023 - M2 MAX - 96 GB RAM
• Focusrite Red 8Line + UAD Satellite

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qtheerearranger wrote:def not in love with the subscription idea as well over here.
I don't mind the annual fee as such, it's more the policy if you stay out one year that bothers me.

It's really something wrong with Avid as a company, especially taking into account that terms for HD owners are still not presented.

They charge 3 times as much annually for HD owners to start with - saying they provide top tier support that nobody asked for.
Which amazed me... however, logic currently has track freeze so its kinda a null point.. pro tools is supposed to get track freeze any day now according to the avid website but apparently they have been saying that for a year.
I think they will delay the track freeze as long as possible because it diminish the need for Avid hardware and ProTools HD/HDX etc. It's not a logical move at all - they want to sell their $3000-$5000 hardware.

If you can run the track count you need, and easily freeze and free resources - there is not need for this overpriced hardware.

TBH, I think track freeze will only be in ProTools HD - where the money is.

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Interesting. Yeah, I won't be able to afford a pro tools rig anytime soon.

Im sure its a double edged sword tho because they probably have incentive to get track freeze to normal pro tools too because they probably want to start getting the average home music producer who uses a lot of virtual instruments (AAX) to start using pro tools which would also start to benefit Avid in a greater way by getting more devs to make their plugins in AAX format as these plugin companies would have more AAX demand.

I hope it isnt an HD feature when it drops.
• Logic Pro 10.8.1
• MacBook Pro 2023 - M2 MAX - 96 GB RAM
• Focusrite Red 8Line + UAD Satellite

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